Wood-treating apparatus



June 29 ',1926. A

. G. B. SHIPLEY wooD TREATING APPARATUS pi SSR.

June 29 1926.

- G. B. SHIPLEY WOOD TREATING APPARATUS June 29 1926.

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Patented June 29, 1926.

PATENT OFFICE.

GRANT B. SHIPLEY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENSYLVANIA.

Application led August. 18, 1921. Serial No. 493,227.

This invention relates to an apparatus adapted for use in impregnating wood and other porous material, and it is especially suitable for the impregnating with creosote or other preserving liquid of timber intended for use as railway ties.

The special object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for treating ties or timber under extremely high pressure so as to thoroughly impregnate the wood, and which may be mounted upon a vehicle such as a railway car so as to be readily transportable from place to place for` use, whereby at convenient points along a railway system, ties or timber may be convenlent-ly treated, thus securing economy by treating the material at the point of use or shipping point without the several expenses incident to shipping the ties or timber to a stationary treating plant and thereafter shipping thev treated ties or timber to distributing points.

Further objects of the invention are to provide an apparatus which is reliable and efficient in action, which will treat the ties or timber in the minimum period of'time,

which is very compactly arranged so as to be carried upon a railway truck of standard size, in which the several devices comprising the treating plant are most conveniently arranged for efficient and continuous operation, and in which the materials to be treated may be fed at one end and discharged at the other, passing through the several devices necessary in treating without a reversal of the direction in which they are moved, that is, in which the materials are placed upon one end of the truck and passed progressively in the same direction through the several steps of treatment and are nally discharged at the opposite end thereof.

It is also a special object to provide a plant of such proportions as to enable extremely high pressures to be employed in the treating cylinders so as not only to increase the eiiciency of known plants but to reduce the time necessary to treat a charge of material to a minimum for the purpose of preventing the escape f the air confined within the cells of the treated material while under pressure so as to secure an almost absolute recovery of the preservative due to the kick back of such confined air.

It is also a special object of this invention to use a hydraulic pressure device for forcing the preservative solution into the wood and so locate or coordinate the same with the other elements of the system that 'the operator has at all times perfect control over the time of treatment, the pressure of treatment, and the quantity of preservative forced into the wood.

These and other objects of the invention will more readily appear from the following description taken in connection with the appended claims.

Like reference characters are used to denote corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings in which Fig. l is a diagrammatic view showing the several devices used in the apparatus embodying my invention and the several connections therebetween. Figs. 2 and 3 taken together constitute a plan view showing an embodiment of the invention; Figs. 4 and v5 taken together constitute a side elevation lthe inlet e'nd of one of the impregnating cylinders showing the several connections thereto; and Fig. Z is an end elevation showing the discharge end of the treating cylinders and the vertical alignment of the storage tanks and receivers therewith.

The whole apparatus is mounted upon the truck 1 which is of the usual construction and is provided with a coupler. Mounted adjacent the central portion of the truck and longitudinally thereof are the treating cylinders or impregnators 3 and 4 each of which has an inlet or charging door 5 at one end and a discharging door 6 at its opposite end.

The doors 5 and 6 are of like construction, being merely oppositely disposed and consisting of an enlarged casing 7 with a top 8 and an opening 9 slightly larger than the cross section of the cylinders and which is adapted to be closed by the closure l0, pivoted by means of transverse shaft 11, trunnioned in the sides of the casing, one end of the shaft extending to the exterior thereof and provided with the weightedcounterbalancing lever 12. The timber or ties to be treated are fed to the cylinders through doors 5 and discharged from doors 6, the preserving Huid being introducedand eX hausted in a manner to be presently explained.

Disposed above and in substantially vertical alignment with the impregnating cylinders are the overhead storage tanks 13 and 14 for the preserving liquid. The tank 13 is connected at its bottom to a pipe 154 which leads through a control valve 16 to the riser 17 and enters the bottom of the casing 7. Said riser also has connection through the valve 18 and drainage pipe 19 to a v sump tank 20 suspended below the floor of the truck.

The storage tank 14 is similarly connected to the inlet door of impregnator 4 by means of a pipe 15 and valve 16', and likewise similar connection with the sump 20 is established through valve 18 and pipe 19. The contents of both tanks 13 and 14 may be used for either cylinder by reason of the fact that pipes 15 and 15 are connected by common header 21. A valved pipe 22 connects the two impregnators. Overflow pipes 23 and 23 project from the top 8 and discharge into drain pipes 24 and 24 connected to the common drain 25 leading to pipe 19 and sump tank 20.

The air receiver 26 for storing compressed air is disposed near one end of tank 13 and in vertical alignment with said tank and cylinder 3, and a similar receiver 27 under vacuum is placed in a corresponding position under the storage tank 14 and cylinder 4. The receiver 26 1s connected by pipe 28 and branch pipes 29 and 29 to the respective discharge doors of the treating cylinders, and the vacuum receiver is also connected thereto by pipe 30 and branch pipes 31 and 31.

Conveniently located below and between the treating cylinders or impregnators is a creosote pressure cylinder 32 adapted to be actuated by the attached hydraulic pressure cylinder 33. The opposite ends of cylinder 32 have the attached inlet pipes 34 and 34 connected by pipe 35 to the header 21, and the inlet pipes 36, 36 lead into pipe 37 which discharges into header 22. The opposite ends of hydraulic cylinder 33 are connected to the combined pressure and exhaust pipes 38, 39 leadingfrom the usual connections of a well known Critchlow controlling valve, water under pressure being supplied to the hydraulic cylinder by a pump 41 having its suction and., discharge pipes 42 and 43 connected to a supply tank 44, and the said valve 40, respectively. The waste port of said valve connects with the tank 44 through pipe 45. It is noted that the piston rod of the pressure cylinder 32 projects through the end thereof and is provided with a calibrated scale indicated at 46 so that by merely glancing at the said rod and scale the amount of preserving fluid discharged by the cylinder 32 can be readily determined.

It is well known that wood fibers are either destroyed or weakened by excessive pressures. It is also well known that these critical pressures vary for the several species of wood, and that the quantity of preservative absorbed and the time required for the absorption varies with the specie of Wood treated. In other words, certain species o-f wood can be treated under higher 'pressures than others, and certain species will absorb preservative in less time and under less pressure than other species. The most desirable pressures to be used and the quantity that will be absorbed and the time required for such absorption by the several species are determined by experiment. By using the hydraulic pressure device 32-33 and locating the same so that its functioning can be constantly watched by the operator through means of the calibrated scale 46, a perfect control of the pressure of treatment, the time of treatment and quantity forced into the wood is assured. For this reason, the hydraulic pressure device is placed below and between the impregnators so that its functioning can be easily watched from the platform 72.

Compressed air for air receiver 26 is supplied by an air compressor 47 through pipe 48, and a vacuum is maintained in receiver 27 by means of a vacuum pump 49 connected thereto by pipe 50 and discharging into the sump tank 51 through discharge pipe 52, said sump tank being connected to the suction pipe 53 of the service pump 54 discharging into the overhead storage tanks 13 and 14 through its discharge line 55.

The sump tank 20 is equipped with an indicating overflow 56 and is connected by pipe 57 with the suction pipe 53 of pump 54 for returning the preserving liquid to the overhead storage tanks, said tanks being maintained under air pressure by means of the piping 58, 59.

A removable loading platform 60 supported in any suitable manner is located at one end of the truck and adjacent thereto is the hoist 61 for depositing the timber to be treated upon the platform, between which and the doors 5 there is a rollway 62 mounted upon a scale 63, the recording mechanism of which is indicated at 64.

A discharging rollway 65 mounted upon a scale 66 is placed adjacent the doors 6 and the recording mechanism of this scale is located at 67 beyond the scale so as to leave the rollway 65 unobstructed between its sides so that the treated material may be discharged from either impregnating cylinder to one side of the truck or the'other as may' be desired. In order to facilitate unloading of the treated material, the rollway is adapted to be tilted to either side by pressure cylinders indicated at 68, and is equipped wlth skids 69 and 70. 1

At 7l is indicated a boiler for supplying steam for operating the several engines driv-` ing the different pumps and other steam aciso p Fil) tuated devices used in connection with the apparatus, also for supplying aheating medium for the preserving liquid.

It is understood that the various pipings connecting the several elements-comprising the system are supplied with suitable check and controlling valves, the principal ones of which have been indicated, and may be actuated either by power or by hand as desired, the operators platform from which all of these, valves together With the several driving elements described may be centrally controlled being indicated at 72.

In operation, the ties or timber to be treated are placed upon the platform 60, the hoist 61 being used for such purpose, and a quantity sufficient to constitute a charge for one of the cylinders 3 or 4 is fed upon one side of the rollway 62, the weight of the charge being recorded by means of scale 63 and recording mechanism 64. The charge is fed into one of the impregnating cylinders through its open door 5 after which both the inlet and discharge doors are closed and preserving fluid as creosote or zinc chloride is admitted through valve 16 or 16 until the treating cylinder is completely filled, this `being indicated by the escape of the preservative through the overiow'23. Communication between the storage tank andimpregnator is then cut off and the hydraulic cylinder 33 operates by means of the valve 40 to force the preservative from the pressure cylinder 32 under the extremely high pressures of 1000 to 2000 pounds per square inch into the treating cylinder, the additional amount of preservative thus fed being shown by the indicator 46.

During this treatment the air within the cells of the wood is highly compressed, which upon release of the hydraulic pressureexpands producing the so-called kick back and eXpels the greater portion of the excess quantity of preservative not actually absorbed by the fibers themselves, such eX- cess escaping through the overflow and drain devices and flowing to the sump tank 20. Air under pressure is then admitted from th'e air receiver 26 into the discharge end of the treating cylinder through pipes 29 and 29', thus forcing the preservation not absorbed by the timber out through valves 18 or 18 to sump tank 20. Connection to the air receiver is then cut off and communication established for a short period with the vacuum receiver 27 and vacuum pump direct through pipes 31 or 31 to remove all particles of the preservative adhering to the surface of the wood. Both the inlet and discharge doors of the impregnator are then opened thus breaking the vacuum and the treated charge forced on to the rollway 65 by feeding a new charge into the inlet end through door 5, and the doors again yclosed for a repetition of the above described method of treatment.

The wei ht of the treated charge is recorded at 6 and may be unloaded at either side of the truck by tilting the rollway 65 and skids 70. The preservative collected in the sumps 20 and 51 is returned to the overhead storage tanks from time to time.

The charges of material treated are fed alternately into the impregnating cylinders 3 and 4 so that the operation and treatment is continuous.

-It is noted that the apparatus described is very compact, the several devices comprising the same being so disposed and arranged as to not only occupy a very limited space enabling it to be mounted upon an ordinary railway truck but the arran ement shown givesready access to said evices, and permits the passage of the material treated progressively from the loading end of the truck to the unloading end thereof without a reversal in the direction of movement throughout the several steps of treat'- ment, resulting in a very eicient apparatus. The eiiciency is also greatly enhanced due to the fact that the size of the several parts permits excessively high pressures to be employed in the treating cylinders thus reducing the time for treating a charger to a minimum. Ordinarily, the time consumed in the usual stationary plants, in which the size of the impregnators prohibits the use of pressures above 200 pounds per square inch, is from 21/2 to 31/2 hours, depending upon the species of wood being treated. With the plant embodying this invention, and in which pressures from 1000 to 2000 pounds per square inch are used, the charge may be treated in about 11/2 minutes. Due to this increased eiliciency, the apparatus described has an output equal to many of the cumbersome stationary plants, besides the advantages incident to its being able to 'be moved from place to place as previously described.

It is also noted that due to the slow cycle of operation in the large stationary plants now used, when the impregnator is placed under pressure the air confined within the cells of the wood has time to escape before the pressure is released, thus resulting in a very weak kick back with a consequent reduction in the recovery of preservative due thereto. The rapidity with which this invention is operated does not allow time for the escape of the confined air so that there is practically a complete recovery of the preservative not actually aborbed by the fibers of the treated material.

I claim:

l1. Timber preserving apparatus compris- ,i

Huid actuated pressure device for applying additional treating fluid under pressure to force the fluid of said treating cylinder into the body of the material to be treated, and means for indicating the quantityvof treating fluid absorbed by the said material.

2. Timber preserving apparatus comprising in combination a plurality of treatin cylinders for receiving material to be treate l0 means for filling said cylinders with a treat- 

